dvd files not found in XP explorer

Having transfered old vcr tapes to dvd (via the standalone dvd recorder and tv) they play perfectly ok on desktop (XP Home) BUT the video_ts folder and associated files do not show in explorer on my laptop (XP Home) and will not automatically play.
the laptop *will play* bought films using cyberlink power dvd and windows media player but when i try my homegrown disks it says *no disk in drive D*.
your thoughts would be most welcome.
regards
tigger

 

blackie94
What's the brand and model of your laptop?
What brand and type of media (DVD\R+ or R-) are you using?

 

i have a packard bell ipower 5000 and using traxdata DVD minus RW 4 speed disks.

hth

 

Sorry but going to need a bit more info.
Have you ever used the -RW disc before in this laptop and had them work?
Tried to dig up some info on the DVD player that came with your laptop but it seems that there are an aray of DVD/CD player/burners you can get with the I5000 series. Do you know what format(s) it is able to handle. If not it should be in the documenation that came with the laptop or on the DVD unit itself.

Basically, depending on which DVD/? you have, it may not beable to read -RW's you are using and may need to use either - or + R's instead.

 

hi clifjcb
bough second user a few months back off ebay. i checked details as i was using minus rw's. according to belarc its a toshiba sd-r6112 and according to descirption on pricegrabber - quote 'The SD-R6112 slim-drive supports writing DVD-R/RW at 2X/1X, writing CD-R/RW at 16X/10X, and reads 8X DVD and 24X CD.'
however, if i look at the details tab on that site it says -
DVD-ROM Read Speed: 8 X (DVD, DVD-R)
DVD+R Speed: 4 X (DVD, DVD-R)
DVD-R Speed: 2 X (DVD, DVD-R)
DVD+RW Speed: 4 X (DVD, DVD-R)
DVD-RW Speed: 1 X (DVD, DVD-R)

so am slightly confused. so does that mean i will have to use disks written at 1 speed minus rw's or 2 speed minus r's. at present am using 4 speed disks

 

Blackie94,
First off the read speed refers to the maximum speed the drive will read the information on the disc and does not have anything to do with the write speed.
So no matter what write speed of the disk used or the speed it was written at it should technically read it as long as they are –R/-RW disks. (All the listings I can find list it as strictly a –R/-RW formats. I think the listing you found showing +R/+RW media may have been a typo)

That said I did some research on your drive and while I could not find more then a few user comments about the drive the few I did find (including the following thread here on AD: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/95588 ) reference the drive as being a bit touchy about the brand of media it will read and write including not being able to read disc’s it had burned.

So where does that leave you?
There was mention of a firmware upgrade (ver 3110 to ver 3111) to the drive that helped but did not totally resolve some burn and read issues. (I need to do some more digging on that one.)
As for now though I would consider trying different media brands and instead of using
-RW media try using –R’s and the lowest burn rate to make sure you get a good burn. Normally I would suggest (as others here would) to use a high grade media brand and the lowest burn rate possible but in your case it seemed that some had better luck using the cheaper brands like Memorex and store brand then with Verbatim, TDK, etc…

If you have some friends with DVD burners that use –R media you might see if you can bum a disc or two from them to test with to avoid having to buy a rack of 25 or 50 then being stuck with media that you can not use.

Meantime I will see what I can dig up on the firmware and if you would check to see what firmware you burner is at.

 

tks for all that info clifjcb.
am in process of writing a film from standalone dvd/tv onto dvd ram disk as the laptop dvd *should* recognise it. will let you know how that goes. hope to get some minus r disks tomorrow and hopefully a few different makes.
? how do i go about checking the firmware version?

regards

 

Depends on your OS but if you are running Windows XP you will need to access the Device Manager.

Find and right click on My Computer, go to Properties. In new message box click on the Hardware tab and then click on Device Manager.
Look down the list and find DVD/CD-Rom drives and click on the + sign to expand it. Double click on your drive and you will get a new message box. Click on the Details tab at the top and you will see a listting like the following:
IDE\CDROMCOMPAQ_CD-ROM_CRD-8484B_________________[bold]1.04[/bold]____\5&156B331&0&0.0.0

The [bold]1.04[/bold] is the firmware version for the CD rom on the PC I am using at the moment.

Went digging for Firmware on your drive and Toshiba does not offer an update for that drive. The firmware listing for that drive should come up as either 1M31 or 1031.
I would suggest trying to contacting Toshiba or Packard Bell at this point if your test with different media does not work and see what they have to offer as a fix other then selling you a new drive.

Hope you have better luck with the different media

BTW, What part of the world are you in?

 

hi again.

you know i did actually see that line but didnt realise that was the firmware version. anyway, it states 1M30. so looks like i ought to have 1M31 version?
where did you find 1M31 on the toshiba site? im looking but no joy.

btw, im in leyburn, uk

regards

 

Some how got a double post of the one below. Read below.

 

Toshiba does not show a download for the firmware nor do they list what the latest greatest is. I found the info while looking for firmware which regretfully I did not find anywhere to download it from. Your best bet is to contact Toshiba and see if they can direct you to an ftp site to download it from.
Here is the link to their firmware page. Just click on the Technical Support Hotline link and call their toll free number or email them and see if they can point you to a place to download the firmware.
http://www.toshiba-europe.com/storage/Index.asp?page=PFW&nav=RSC_PDL
Let us know if you have any luck either with the firmware or using different media.
Goodluck,
Clifjcb

 

at last some success. first copied from my dvd-rw to dvd-ram disk and that played ok on laptop (but they are expensive). was able to get some samsung pleomax dvd-r's on friday and have just finished putting a film on one and that works ok on laptop. so seems like i will have to stick to these. anyway, clifjcb thanks for your help in this.

regards

 

Glad to help and happy to hear that using different media solved the your problem.
You still might want to consider checking with Toshiba someday to see if there is an update for your drive and if so what the update corrects. Might come in handy later on.
Regards and happy burning.

 

hi clifjcb if you are about.
toshiba sent me a zipped file for firmware update to 1M31 BUT their link to create an ms dos startup disk is unavailable.

searching MS i come up with a program (WinXP_EN_HOM_BF.EXE.exe) to create 6 setup floppy disks but that gives me a dos window and it immediately closes if i type in a drive letter. as i do not have floppy disk on laptop whats the best course of action.

regards

 

Yea, the windows XP boot discs are not what you need.
You need either an IBM Dos boot disc or windows 95/98 boot disc with CD-Rom support.
Do you have one of the above by chance?
Also what burn programs do you have (Roxio, Nero, etc...)?

Once you can relay that info I can either point you to a set of directions on how to build one or write one up. It's really not that hard to build just seems like it.

Just an FYI but I will be out of pocket for a couple of days, celebrating Wedding Anniversary #30 tomorrow and disapearing for a few days.
Get back with you when I get back.

 

Blackie94
If you still need help let me know.

 

welcome back

i tried making a boot cd but suspect that didnt have the correct files on it. the boot sequence is set for cd first and then the hard drive, and laptop checks the cd drive but doesnt find a boot disk. i have nero for burning.
would the windows xp disk be of any use?

am beginning to suspect that its not going to work and it might be better to change the drive.

regards

 

Don't give up the ship yet.
First off when you un zipped the Toshiba file there should have been one or two files of which one should have been an .exe file.
Shoot me the name(s) of the file(s) and I will shoot you a link on how to build a boot disc with your files.
Regards,

 

well clifjcb nice to hear from you again. havent quite got to the stage of changing the drive.

these are the files - LO1M31C.hex, v152TEG.exe, update.bat and a readme file which just says:

Instructions:
1. Make Bootable Floppy Disk
2. Extract all files of the ZIP file onto Boot Disk
3. Reboot PC with Boot Disk inserted.
4. Type
update.bat <return>
F/W will now be updated (you may be prompted to insert a disk, any CD will do)
5. Wait for Flashing to finish.
6. Reboot PC

as i said before i made some sort of boot cd but it didnt work - at least laptop didnt recognise it as a boot disk.

regards

 

I hate to say it but I had Hommer moment....Dooh!
Building a bootable CD is not a problem, the real problem is that the CD rom can not be in use during the firmware update except when it is needed as per instructions in the readme file you have. This means you can not be booting from the cd rom your trying to flash.

So back to the drawing board.

Silly question but does your Toshiba support USB Bootup? If so do you know anyone that has a usb or serial floppy drive or for that fact a CD Rom (with appropriate cable(s)) that would let you borrow it for a day? If so your back in business.

Let me know if any of the above is possible.

Another thought but I've never tried this (and not sure how you would do it) but if you laptop supports USB boot it might be possible to run it from a jump drive.

At this point these are the only options I can think of to get around it.